Airtel and Idea hike ISD calling tariffs

The depreciation of the Rupee has already affected smartphone prices, and now has also resulted in hike in ISD calling tariffs in India. Operators like Airtel and Idea have now increased the international call tariffs by as much as 25 percent, making subscribers pay much more for the ISD calls to the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. This change was first reported by the PTI. Though both the operators have increased the call rates for most of the countries by same percentage, Airtel however in some areas has increased the price by up to 80 percent.

So while the new standard ISD calling rate to the US, as mentioned on these companies’ websites, has now been set at Rs 8 per minute against Rs 6.40 per minute earlier. However, on Airtel’s network calling to Australia on some ISD codes like 6113 and 6114 will now cost 80 percent more than earlier. It will now be charged at Rs 180 than Rs 100.

Athough Airtel and Idea both have mentioned these new rates on the international calling rate lists but as usual have been discreet about this step.

As far as other operators are concerned, there is no change noticed on the Vodafone’s ISD tariffs, but they are also expected to follow Airtel and Idea and soon update their international calling rates. The rest might also follow this trend.